Can Skipping Dinner Help Me Lose Weight?

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Can counting calories only on certain days of the week help you lose weight?. I don’t think so.  What happens to most people is that they tend to go overboard on the other days. You end up with no weight loss. But I do think that the evening meal should be the smallest meal of the day and the only thing I eat after that is a piece of fruit.

Among the many strategies for losing weight and aging well – following a low-carb diet, eliminating gluten, getting more exercise – there’s one that’s consistently recommended by researchers: calorie restriction. When you take in fewer calories than you require to maintain your current body weight, you’ll lose weight.

There is a new theory that the fewer calories you eat the longer you will live. Now, this doesn’t mean you have to starve yourself. It means that it’s better to eat food that’s low in calories. And what does that? It means that you should make better choices buying food. Don’t buy frozen food if you can get the same thing fresh. Don’t eat ice cream, buy non-fat dairy, When you buy low-fat food be careful of the sugar, sodium, and calories.

When you’re on a low-cal diet it’s easier just to eat fresh food. Fresh food has no added ingredients. Fresh food is low in calories, it’s what you add to the vegetables when you prepare them, it’s what you add to the meat to flavor it.  Oriental people lived for centuries on the seafood along their shores and the plant food that they grew and in some parts of Japan, these people are considered the healthiest people on Earth living longer than anyone else, by eating a simple diet of fresh food.

If you read the following post I think you’ll agree that if Intermittent fasting works, it probably will only work for a short time and you end up gaining the weight back.

 

What Is Intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting means severely restricting your food intake on one, two, or more days of the week and eating normally the rest of the time. The so-called “fast days” aren’t total fasts; rather, you take in about a quarter of your normal calories. For women, that represents about 500 calories, for men, about 600 calories. It’s often referred to as a 5:2 diet, with five normal days and two fasting days; other versions are called 4:3, 6:1, alternate-day fasting (ADF), or the “every-other-day” diet plan.

A 2012 BBC documentary, Eat, Fast and Live Longer, is often credited with bringing intermittent fasting into the mainstream, but it’s been researched longer than that for its potential benefit in reducing breast cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and cognitive decline.

In fact, calorie restriction for longevity has been researched since the 1930s and is so far the only method proven to improve longevity, at least in lab animals.

What Does the Research Say?

Several studies have suggested that intermittent fasting works as well as continuous calorie restriction for weight loss, but there’s still little evidence on the long-term effectiveness of the diet.

Researchers note that effective diets are satiating, provide for your nutritional needs and be easy to follow. Since intermittent fasting doesn’t require a total overhaul of your diet, simply a restriction of calories on some days of the week, it may be a successful dieting method. Long-term studies are needed, however, to show the safety and success of intermittent fasting.  Read an interview with intermittent fasting researcher Dr. Krista Varady.

Does It Lead to Bingeing on Other Days?

Perhaps surprisingly, this doesn’t seem to be the case. In one study, subjects who ate 20-30% of their normal calorie requirements on fasting days generally ate just 10% more than usual on their non-dieting days. In addition, many people reported that their feelings of hunger on low-calorie days dramatically diminished over time.

A Better Kind of Weight Loss

Another promising finding is that intermittent fasting appears to yield the loss of less lean muscle when compared to conventional daily dieting. In a 2011 review, 90% of the weight lost through intermittent fasting was fat, compared with only 75% in daily dieting.

Maintaining lean muscle mass while dieting offers a metabolic advantage for maintaining weight loss because muscle burns more energy than fat even at rest.

Does It Reduce Belly Fat?

Belly fat, aka visceral fat, is the spare tire that surrounds your internal organs, leading to a greater risk of diabetes and heart disease. A 2011 review found that both traditional dieting and intermittent fasting reduce similar amounts of belly fat.

Who Shouldn’t Try Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is not appropriate for:

  • Children or teenagers
  • Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding
  • Those with a history of eating disorders
  • People under a doctors care

The NIH also recommends that adults with diabetes or heart disease should consult their healthcare provider before trying any new diet.

Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.


If you really want to lose your body fat look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 


There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.


My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com and other online bookstores. Just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

 



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